Festival Events

The Lysicrates Prize: Linking Greece and Australia: A talk by John Azarias

Ancient Greece lives on in modern Sydney

The Lysicrates Foundation aims to link Greece and Australia by honouring an ancient Athenian tradition in today's Sydney. Musical and drama contests at the annual Dionysia festival would bring the city to a standstill for a week.

It was essentially the audience that chose the winning performances, whose sponsors could then erect monuments to commemorate their success.

In 334 B.C. an Athenian called Lysicrates commissioned a beautiful monument, still standing, which was copied in sandstone in Sydney in 1868.

Mr and Mrs Azarias noticed it was eroding and decided to restore not only the monument but the contests as well.

Date: Tuesday 21 March

Start time: 7.00 pm – refreshments & canapés from 6.00 pm

Venue: Beta Bar - 238 Castlereagh Street, Sydney

Ticket: Free

RSVP: 9750 0440 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The famous party island in the Cyclades has inspired us to recreate a day of fun, sipping on summer cocktails and enjoying a selection of hot and cold canapés whilst listening to beats by DJ Alex Dimitriades.

Free entry, bookings required. Drinks and canapés available for purchase on the day.

Date: Sunday 19 March

Start time: 12.00 pm – 5:00 pm

Venue: 1821 Restaurant 122 Pitt Street, Sydney

Ticket: Free – bookings required

Booking details: 8080 7070 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A show by one of Australia's premier spoken word performers: Luka Lesson.

Performing his favourite selection of poetry from a career spanning more than ten years and five different countries, Luka Lesson will give audiences a unique insight into the stories behind the works.

The performance will cover themes of Luka's own Greek heritage, racism and social commentary as well as selections from his new creative project, a contemporary re-imagining of Homer's Odyssey.

Witness the re-invigoration of this classical text as performed by one of the most inspiring wordsmiths of today.

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A talk on the Antikythera Mechanism by the astrophysicist Professor Xenophon Moussas, of the University of Athens.

The Mechanism is a unique monument of ancient Greek civilisation, universally considered one of the most significant of all archaeological finds on a global level.

Professor Moussas’ research provides sound evidence that the Greeks were developing high-level science and technology, based on a knowledge of the laws of physics much more advanced than is usually assumed by the international scientific community.